Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – McKinleyville’s Tate Saso delivers a pitch against Hoopa on Tuesday.

The McKinleyville Panthers are moving on in the Charles Lakin baseball tournament after a come-from-behind win over Hoopa in their opening game on Tuesday.

Playing at Belotti Field across from the Redwood Acres in Eureka, some early errors proved costly for the Big 5 runners-up and they found themselves 3-2 behind going into the bottom of the fourth.

However, the defending tournament champs would respond with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and held on down the stretch for a 6-3 win.

The victory sets up a semifinal showdown against St. Bernard’s on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

In the other opening round game on Tuesday, the Eureka Loggers matched up against the Ferndale Wildcats.

No result was immediately available.

A pair of young pitchers helped set the tone for the Panthers in Tuesday’s win.

Freshman Tate Saso got the start on the mound and appeared well up for the challenge.

The youngster threw four good innings for the win and struck out three.

Sophomore teammate Joe Tanno threw three innings in relief and held the Hoopa offense scoreless down the stretch while striking out five.

Lyle McKinnon continued to impress for the Warriors, who were making their first-ever appearance in the Lakin tournament and looked ready to go early in the game.

The senior pitcher, who could have been playing his final game for the Little 4 school, pitched four innings and struck out seven.

Junior Brian Richards pitched the final two innings.

“It was a hard game for us to focus on,” McKinleyville head coach Mike Dobrec admitted. “We came out a little flat, and I think Lyle pitched well for Hoopa. He kept us off balance. Hats off to him, he pitched a good game.”

The two young McKinleyville pitchers got just enough offensive support, with five Panthers hitting successfully in the win.

Senior Jackson Kelly led the way at the plate and finished 2-for-2, while sophomore teammate Bode Reininger continued to impress and was 1-for-2 with a triple and an RBI.

Pat Wilson, Riles Egbert and Joe Forbes each finished 1-for-2 with an RBI for McKinleyville.

“It was a good win for us, and now we’ve just got to move forward,” Dobrec said.

The Warriors, who posted their first winning season in 14 years this spring, had six hits in the loss.

And they achieved that with a balanced team performance at the plate, with six different players hitting successfully.

Senior Tristan Billings was 1-for-2 with a run, while teammate Christian Hostler was 1-for-1 with a double and McKinnon was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Brandon Romero, Allen Kane and Richards all were 1-for-3, with Kane driving in a run and Richards scoring one.

Kaydon Matilton also had an RBI in the loss.

The Warriors, who dropped to 13-11, must now wait and see if they have done enough to make next week’s NCS playoffs.

Regardless, it has been a breakout season for a program that had struggled in recent years.

The NCS brackets will be announced this weekend.

“I was very proud of my team tonight,” first-year head coach Aaron Williams said. “We showed some fight. It shows we have something left in the tank for the upcoming NCS tournament, if we get in.

“Hats off to McKinleyville, they answered back from a little rally we got going.

“It was an exciting game to be a part of, especially being a part of the Lakin tournament for the first time in school history.”

The Hoopa boys are the seventh-ranked Division-5 team in the NCS, according to MaxPreps.